New York Yankees' Aceves to make his first major-league start Tuesday night

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- It's only about a five-hour drive from San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico, to Anaheim.

Alfredo Aceves' journey to his first big-league start took a bit longer.

Aceves -- a right-hander from that river town in the Mexican state of Sonora who is listed at 25 but looks like he could pass for Jim Leyritz's older brother -- gets the call Tuesday night for the Yankees in place of Darrell Rasner.

When he began this season with Class-A Tampa, Aceves was just hoping to get to Triple A. He did, and after a while with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Aceves adjusted his goal.

"I saw people called up and sent down," he said. "I said (to myself), 'If you can play (in the majors), I can play.' Why not?"

Aceves was a member of the Toronto Blue Jays organization in 2001. He played in the Dominican Summer League, but when the Blue Jays declined to promote him to a U.S.-based league, he asked to be released so he could play in the Mexican League.

In six years with Yucatan and Monterrey, Aceves went 34-23 with a 4.06 ERA in 126 games (75 starts). Last year, he was fourth in that hitter-friendly league with a .242 batting average allowed.

While Aceves wanted to get back to a major-league organization, he remained the property of Monterrey.

Then last winter he pitched for Culiacan in winter ball and caught the eye of a number of teams. The Yankees made the highest bid, paying Monterrey $450,000 for the rights to Aceves (he got one-quarter of the fee). The Yankees officially signed him on March 10.

It took less than six months for Aceves to get to the majors.

He began at Tampa, going 4-1 with a 2.11 ERA in eight starts. He was promoted to Double-A Trenton on May 20 and was 2-2 with a 1.80 ERA in seven starts, including a 19-inning scoreless streak to begin his stint there. At that point, the Yankees began thinking Aceves could help them this season.

Aceves was moved up to Scranton on June 27 but was set back by a slight groin injury. In 10 games (eight starts), he was 2-3 with a 4.12 ERA.

On Aug. 28, after a couple of beatings by the Boston Red Sox left the Yankees bullpen spent, the Yankees called him up to replace Dave Robertson in the bullpen. Aceves pitched two scoreless innings on Aug. 30 against Toronto and five days ago relieved Rasner in the second inning at Tampa Bay.

Those five solid innings (four hits, one run, four strikeouts) convinced the Yankees to try him in the rotation in place of Rasner.

"I'm not excited," Aceves said. "It's another game, another team."

But then he corrected himself. He is excited, he said, but also trying to stay level-headed.

The scouting report on Aceves is that he is a typical fifth starter, with a variety of pitches -- fastball (91-94 mph), cut fastball, curveball, changeup and split-finger.

"He can throw four pitches for strikes," said Chad Moeller, who caught Aceves in Triple A. "All good pitches. No question about his stuff. And he likes to pitch inside."

Pitching coach Dave Eiland said he hadn't seen enough of Aceves other than to say he is raw. Eiland said he's interested to see what Tuesday night brings.

He isn't the only one. A group of friends and family will drive from San Luis Rio Colorado -- about 20 miles south of Yuma, Ariz. -- to see Aceves Tuesday night.

"Obviously, he's got a chance to show something," manager Joe Girardi said. "He's got a chance to pitch some meaningful baseball, which is important. And I think it's important in his development."